Ashes
by MissUmaThurman
Summary: Her Family. Her Friends. Her Ship. Everything Grace Kirkham once held most-dear, is gone, turned to ashes by an Unknown Force. After crash landing upon Red Dwarf, Grace learns how to cope without her friends and family; but ultimately makes some new ones along the way. Grace is determined to avenge her fellow crew-mates, but life isn't always that simple now, is it?


_**A/N: Hello everyone. This is my first attempt at a Red Dwarf story and I'm so excited to share it all with you. This first chapter is just a little bit of backstory, so the rest makes sense. Our boys will be here in the next chapter however.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Red Dwarf. It quite rightly belongs to the BBC, Dave, UKTV, Baby Cow Productions and so on and so forth.**_

* * *

 **Deep Space: - The SS. Pilgrim.**

 _"Doctor Kirkham to the Bridge, Doctor Kirkham to the Bridge please."_

Bright-blue eyes opened steadily. From underneath the covers, a groan emanated from the occupant of the bed; the figure neither moving or bothering to answer the call. She closed her eyes once more, hoping the noise would soon go-away. There was silence for a few moments, before-

 _"Doctor Grace Kirkham, this is a Code-Red. Please report to the Bridge."_

Grace Kirkham, the ships Chief Medical Officer, opened her eyes once more; this time, much more alert. Jumping up and out of bed, smacking her head on the bunk above; Grace swore loudly, rubbing her head, before reaching for her Medical-gold-dress. She pulled it over her head and slipped on a pair of nearby trainers. It's only then did Grace realize that she was alone in her bunk-room. No Charlotte reading the paper by the bookshelf. There wasn't a sign of her best friend and fellow Nurse, Ruby, in the bunk above. No life was present, and this made Grace shiver with worry. Sighing, she began to sprint out of the room and towards the Bridge. On the way, she passed a variety of crew-members; each looking as frightened as the other. It took Grace a moment to recall the sound of an alarm travelling through the ship. Red lights blaring, the piercing sound deadening. Grace gulped, willing herself to run quicker. Eventually, she reached the Bridge, stepping into the room with an air of caution. The ships Captain, Frankie Planner, stood from the command-chair and swiftly moved over to her closest confidant. The two remained near the door, but Grace kept a cautious eye on the crew stood around. She turned to Frankie with a panicked look.

"What's going on Frankie?"

Frankie looked down at the floor, sighing sadly, before looking back up at Grace.

"We're loosing power, rapidly. Everybody that was in the lower decks, they're all-" Frankie took another deep breath. "They're all gone. Disintegrated by the sheer force of the blast. Charlotte, Ruby, Heidi... They're all gone."

Grace stepped back, the shock evident on her usually soft-features.

"Oh God..." Grace whispered, feeling detached from the scene around her.

Those people had been her only family, the people she had come to love and care for. Now that was all gone. Grace felt the tears begin to fall. Frankie, who was usually a rather stoic woman, watched on; feeling her heart shatter. But there was no time for her to cry.

"I'm really sorry Grace. But we have to evacuate, or we'll be next. The fire is travelling upwards." Frankie replied, nervously staring over at her crew.

Nodding, Grace wiped the tears away and inhaled sharply. She straightened out her dress and stepped past Frankie, looking out of the observation-window. Frankie followed her friends lead, the two standing there in silence for a few seconds. The pair shared a sad-glance, before turning to face the rest of the remaining crew. Hands on hips, the Captain swallowed hard, addressing her subjects carefully.

"Ladies, as you are aware, the SS. Pilgrim is under attack. As your Captain, I command that you leave your stations and head to the nearest escape-pod."

Each member stared back at Frankie, fear and panic evident. They nodded at their Captain's command and began to scurry towards the escape pods. One by one, the pods were filled with remaining-crew; each on descending from the burning ship. That left just one solitary pod. Grace, noticing this, spun around in horror; her gaze set upon a surprisingly calm Frankie. She shook her head, knowing what was to come next. Defiantly, Grace moved closer to Frankie.

"Fran, no-"

Frankie, raising her hand, calmly shook her head.

"The Captain must be the last member off the ship. I won't abandon her."

Grace began to cry once more, unbelieving of Frankie's words.

"This isn't fair. We were supposed to travel the Universe together. All of us." Grace said quietly through her sobs.

Frankie let a sad chuckle through her dry-lips, trying to hide her current-emotions. She grasped Grace's hand and squeezed it tightly.

"I know Gracie, I know. But-"

At that moment, the ship lurched to one-side; causing the only two occupants to fall onto the ground. The fire was getting closer. Grace was the first to stand, albeit on shaky-legs; she quickly helped Frankie up, before trying to drag her towards the pod. Frankie, however, pulled away from Grace and stood still. Grace could do nothing but stare helplessly at her best-friend.

"Grace, as your superior, I command that you get into the pod." Frankie commanded shakily.

Grace bit down on her lip and sobbed, shaking her head once more; not wanting to let the inevitable happen.

"I won't leave you." She cried helplessly.

Frankie, now also allowing herself to cry, turned her back to Grace and stared towards the Bridge door.

"That is an order Grace. Go, now." Frankie commanded again, this time, through her own tears.

Reluctantly, Grace stepped into the pod and strapped herself in. But, before closing the door, she saw Frankie turn towards her; a devastating look upon her usually stoic features. The red-head, before Grace could blink, had closed the pod-door. Frankie placed a palm against the small window,

"Goodbye Gracie." Frankie said through her tears.

Grace placed a palm over Frankie's.

"Goodbye Fran."

Only a few seconds passed-by before Frankie pushed the fatal button, releasing her best-friend into the atmosphere. She watched Grace's pod float away, just as the doors burst-open; the flames gathering within the room. Frankie closed her eyes and sat back in her chair; this ship wouldn't go down without its Captain.

* * *

 **Deep Space: Unknown.**

Grace had passed out, she was sure of it. Through all of the madness and the tears, Grace had seemingly lost track of what was going on. She groaned and shifted within the pod; she couldn't feel herself move outside. Looking through the window, Grace peered around and saw nothing but bright-blue lights. She wasn't in Space anymore. Sighing deeply, the broken-blonde opened the lock and pushed the pod-door open. Grace hesitantly stepped out of the small-ship, rubbing her back as she did so. A cluster of noises seemingly echoed from above, causing Grace to jump out of her skin. Shakily, Grace ran a hand through her hair; a few tears escaping from her red-raw eyes.

 _Where in Titans name was she?_

Brushing off the specks of ash on her once-immaculate gold dress, Grace stepped over to a collection of crates, which happened to be next to her pod. She peered down at the top, wiping away the dust and frowning.

"Red Dwarf?" She pondered out loud.

Grace stepped back and from inside her ship, she grasped a Phaser-gun; keeping it close to her side. She stilled at the same noises, they seemed be nearing. Grace, in her ultimate wisdom, rushed to hide behind one of the many crates. She sat, waiting, holding her breath. Grace stilled, hearing the doors _swoosh_ open.

"The intruder entered through that air lock, Sir."

 _An American?_

"Look, this must be the pod they used."

 _This voice was British, Grace recognized it as a Scouse accent._

"Which means that the intruder is here, in this room somewhere."

 _Damn it._

Clutching her weapon, Grace shifted slightly, her position becoming more and more uncomfortable.

"Show yourself, whoever or whatever you are."

 _Well, it was now or never._

Grace rose steadily, weapon pointed forwards; her legs were shaky, but Grace couldn't think about that now. A round of gasps rippled around the room. Grace watched as the voices, who were apparently four men, stared at her carefully. She continued to point the weapon and stood still. The shortest of the group, a man with rather dodgy-dreadlocks, stepped forwards.

"Look, are you here to kill us?" He asked cautiously, his Liverpudlian accent thick.

Shaking out of her reverie, Grace stared at the man and sighed sadly.

"No-No, of course not." She said quietly.

Another man, this one taller and with a 'H' stuck upon his forehead, stepped forwards; joining his friend.

"Then would you be able to stop pointing your weapon at us?" He asked, rather abruptly.

Grace looked down at her Phaser and blinked at it, before placing down on the crate in front of her. The shorter man watched Grace as she did this.

"Eh, none of my business, but you look like hell."

Chuckling sadly, Grace met the mans gaze and sighed, she was still quite cautious of the strangers around her.

"You don't know the half of it."

A rather friendly-looking Mechanoid stepped forwards, he had previously been inspecting Grace's escape pod. He smiled over at the blonde.

"How about a cup of tea, Ma'am and you can tell us all about it?" He offered kindly.

Grace let a relieved smile enter onto her lips.

"That would be lovely. God, that would be lovely."

The Mechanoid nodded, before quickly exiting the room. Grace then focused her attention upon the other three crew-members.

"I'm Grace, Grace Kirkham." She said carefully, offering her hand out politely.

The shorter man was the first to accept her gesture, shaking her hand quickly.

"Dave Lister. It's a an absolute pleasure." He said with a cheeky smile. He then turned to point at the other men stood behind him. "That behind me is Cat."

Said 'Cat' stepped forwards to shake Grace's hand, before winking at her and retreating from the room. Grace raised her eyebrows and shook her head in disbelief. That left the taller-gentleman.

"And this smeg-head, is Rimmer."

Rimmer scoffed, pushing Lister out of the way and taking Grace's hand; shaking it fervently.

"That's Arnold J. Rimmer. Like Lister said, it's a pleasure Miss Kirkham."

Releasing her hand, Rimmer stepped back; both men now watching Grace. She smiled at them, before staring down at the box she examined previously. She quickly peered back up, a perplexed look upon her face.

"Question?"

"Yes?" Rimmer queried cautiously.

Grace made a funny-face before continuing.

"What sort of name is Red Dwarf?"

* * *

 _ **A/N: And, Ladies and Gents, the story begins. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Let me know what you thought and I'll see you al in the next one.**_


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